ACLU and Freedom of Speech Prevail in Burnsville
Saint Paul, Minn- The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota achieved victory in their Honk for Peace case against the City of Burnsville on behalf of their client Robert Palmer. Palmer was charged with a misdemeanor violation of Minnesota's illegal honking statute in 2009, when he was cited after honking his horn 52 times in support of an anti-war protest at a busy intersection during rush hour in front of Congressman John Kline's office in downtown Burnsville. Following a lengthy evidentiary hearing conducted on April 28, 2010, Dakota County District Court Judge Rex D. Stacey issued an order filed on May 7, 2010, dismissing the charges against Palmer as violating a Consent Decree filed last year in another illegal honking case.
In 2009 the ACLU-MN settled a similar case against the City of Burnsville when it issued a ticket to Barbara Gilliand for honking in support of the anti-war protestors. As part of the settlement agreement the City of Burnsville agreed to dismiss the citation against Gilliand and issue no further citations to motorists who honk their horns to express their constitutionally protected free speech rights, except when necessary to preserve public safety.
In his decision dismissing Palmer's charges as a violation of that Consent Decree, Judge Stacey concluded that there was no evidence that Palmer's honking compromised public safety.
ACLU-MN volunteer attorney Howard Bass is pleased with the decision and says "Judge Stacey's ruling confirms that the First Amendment is alive and well in Burnsville." Palmer and Gilliand were both represented by volunteer attorney Howard Bass of the Bass Law Firm in Burnsville.
Read more at Honk for Peace.